Filing Your FAFSA without the IRS Data Tool

Posted on April 28, 2017

Filing the 16-17 and 17-18 FAFSA without the IRS Data Retrieval Tool:

Recently, through a joint decision made by the IRS and the Department of Education, the IRS Data Retrieval Tool (DRT) will be unavailable until further notice. The DRT is used to transfer necessary financial information from a tax return directly to a FAFSA application. It is designed to be a faster and more accurate means of completing the FAFSA.

Unfortunately, due to recent online security concerns the agencies had to temporarily suspend the use of this electronic tool. This suspension of this service is to allow for increasing level of online security measures to ensure protection of the data being transferred. It is expected that the DRT will not be available for financial aid applicants until the start of the new FAFSA for the 2018-2019 school year.

The 2016- 17 and 2017-18 FAFSA can, and should, still be completed by anyone interested in getting financial aid. However, applicants must manually provide the tax return information on the FAFSA.

For more information please see the notices from the IRS and the DOE that provide more detail on the suspension of the DRT and on obtaining, if necessary, paper copies of necessary tax return documents.

You may also contact our office with any questions you have about this issue, or any financial aid related questions. Please either call 805-493-3115 or send an email to finaid@callutheran.edu.